AUGUSTA, Ga. — Steve Stricker’s bonus rounds at the Masters could have a big payoff.
Playing the weekend at Augusta National for the first time since 2001, Stricker found himself on the leaderboard after a bogey-free 68. At 7-under-par, he is alone in fifth place, four strokes behind Angel Cabrera and Kenny Perry.
“Usually I’m not here on Saturday. It’s a great place now, isn’t it?” Stricker said, laughing. “That’s maybe why I felt a little more comfortable today, because this was a bonus because I haven’t made too many cuts here. I was really relaxed.”
Stricker tied for 10th at the 2001 Masters. But he missed the cut the next year as he descended into a four-year slump that almost ended his career. He plummeted to 189th on the money list in 2003 after making only eight cuts, and lost his card the next year.
He revived his career in 2006 with a run so impressive it earned him PGA Tour comeback player of the year — two years in a row.
“I’ve wanted to play so well here every time that I’ve come that I just get in my way, I think,” Stricker said. “This year, I said (forget) it, just have fun with it and try not to put so much pressure on myself.”
Campbell’s mistake.
Chad Campbell was chugging along with a bogey-free round, looking as though he’d be playing in the final group Sunday.
Then he pulled the wrong club out of his bag.
Tied with Kenny Perry for the Masters lead, Campbell made a major mistake at the par-3 16th hole when he flew his tee shot into a bunker right of the green.
“I hit a really great shot,” Campbell insisted. “I just had the wrong club.”
Hitting 173 yards into what he thought was a breeze, Campbell went with a 6-iron. But he said the wind appeared to die down just as he struck his ball.
“Obviously, I should have hit the 7-iron,” he said.
Campbell tried to be a little too precise with his shot out of the bunker and failed to get out. Another swing worked better, leaving him about 6 feet below the cup. But he missed the bogey putt and took a 5.
Now, he’ll be in the next-to-last group on Sunday, paired with Jim Furyk.
Ratings.
ESPN said Saturday its ratings for the first two rounds were the highest in eight years.
The two-day household average rating was 2.8, the highest since it was a 2.9 in 2001 on USA Network, when Tiger Woods was going for his fourth consecutive major. The rating was up 8 percent from last year, the first year ESPN began televising the early rounds.
The Associated Press
